At the start of the new school year, the high school unveiled a new physical education program called Tactical and Strategic Sports. The course was created under the former Athletic Director Greg Russo’s jurisdiction.
Each of the gym teachers has taken it upon themselves to make the program their own in some way. According to the course description in the Course of Study Guide, the new curriculum offers an advanced approach to traditional and nontraditional team and individual sports.
The class also offers higher-level motor skills, team building and heightened knowledge of the sports played within the class. Some of the units in the class include, but are not limited to, soccer, football, basketball, speedball, volleyball and badminton. It is available for students between sophomore and senior year.
According to gym teacher Nazareth Flory, the class will take a speedier approach with less “skills and drills.” This allows for students to immediately engage in playing games with their classmates without having to practice certain skills beforehand.
“Students seem to be enjoying the class so far. Going forward it should continue to be successful,” said Flory.
“For those who enjoy major team sports such as football, soccer, softball and basketball, as well as skipping right to playing games instead of drills, it is an awesome class,” said senior Jordan Sergio, a participant in the class.
With this course, Flory plans to reintroduce the popular games of speedball and floor hockey at some point toward the end of the year.
In addition, the standard physical education course offered by the school has experienced some minor changes for this year, one of which is the addition of archery to the curriculum. In general, the class will mainly focus on the improvement of skills before beginning to play a particular sport as a team.
One of the other classes, Personal Fitness, is also going through some curricular changes. Students have now begun to learn all about how to use the various machines and equipment in the gym. The class has become more oriented towards working out and less of simple cardiovascular exercises. Students will be able to keep up with the latest fitness trends and will also learn about nutrition and exercise physiology.
“Don’t be shocked if you get a good workout in this class,” said gym teacher Gina Carlone.
The expectations going into the Personal Fitness class this year are more rigorous than in year’s prior. Like Tactical Sports, this program is available to students between sophomore and senior year.
“I think personal fitness is a great alternative for people who prefer to stay in shape individually rather than as part of a group sport. I’ve really enjoyed the class this year and last year, especially because it has taught me skills that I feel like I will actually use in the future, like how to tell if I’m in my target heart rate zone and for self-defense,” said senior Melissa Blum.